


Paralysing Fears and Tablecloths - Spin Off (7)

by Fede_Green



Series: Private Lessons [10]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Normal Life, Jealousy, M/M, Percy is a sweet dubious idiot I love him so much, Sally being Sally, Slightly angsty but I'm not a fan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-25
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:04:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fede_Green/pseuds/Fede_Green
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico and Percy's wedding approaches. And that's when paralysing fears and paranoias make their appearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paralysing Fears and Tablecloths - Spin Off (7)

**Author's Note:**

> Helloooooo there! Seventh spin off for the PL Series. Oh damn. Hide my keyboard, please. This has to stop.
> 
> WARNINGS:  
> \- English is NOT my first language! But you know that by now. I hope. If you don't... well. Now you do.  
> \- This is a bit angsty. If you squint. I don't know, I suck with angst and this is not even close so don't worry. Tell me what you think because in my opinion it's crap.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this spin off *-*

Percy dragged his shopping cart between the shelves of the little supermarket. Since Nico used to sleep at his home basically every weekend and since he kept using his shampoos and toothpaste, he found out that he had to buy them a lot more frequently now. He smiled to himself while he grabbed a coconut bubble bath from a shelf. Nico loved coconut flavoured _things_. In general.

Re-thinking about it. Where was his boyfriend? The little bastard was nowhere to be seen in the shop. Probably in the pastries' department. They had decided to go shopping together, but apparently Percy was going to do everything on his own. He shook his head fondly. That boy was going to be his death.

When he approached the shop window full of delicious desserts and sweets from the distance, he noticed that Nico was already there - obviously - but... he was not alone. A department shop assistant was chuckling and saying God knew what – he couldn't hear a thing -, making his boyfriend laugh openly and loudly. The mysterious shop assistant smiled and laid closer to the boy, putting his hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico raised his head from the shop window and Percy noticed a surprised expression on his face.

Percy frowned. He smelled troubles. Someone was trying to steal his boyfriend. The man dragged the shopping cart with renewed motivation and brought himself a few metres behind Nico, who couldn't see him. The teacher wanted to hear everything about that conversation that seemed _so funny_.

“- but you know, if Friday is a problem... don't worry about that. You give me your number and we'll keep in touch,” the shop assistant was saying, while chuckling. Percy's eyes reduced to a thin line. He wanted to kill him.

Nico smiled awkwardly. “Ah... you're kind, seriously. But I've got a boyfriend. So...”

“So what? Don't tell him.” The shop assistant winked teasingly and shrugged with carelessness. Percy glanced around him. Maybe someone had a revolver at hand? Who knew.

“... Ehm. No. I'm serious. We're engaged.” Nico was in great difficulty dealing with that boy. He was trying his best not to be rude.

The shop assistant widened his eyes in disbelief. “What?! How old are you? Around twenty? And you're engaged?!”

“Well, yes. He's older than me... he proposed. I said yes. What's the problem?”

“You're staying with him 'cause you're engaged or because you love him?” The shop assistant put a hand on his hip, apparently thinking he was giving Nico a great challenge with answering to that.

Indeed Nico raised an eyebrow sceptically. “Both, you idiot. You were funny and pretty nice about ten seconds ago. Now you're just an asshole. Bye.”

The shop assistant grabbed his wrist before he could have had flown away. “Hey. You would have come out with me if I had insisted a bit more. So don't play dumb with me, like you don't know it.”

“That is bullshit,” Nico blushed furiously.

The other boy winked teasingly and let go of his arm. “If you say so. See you around. I work here every morning... just for info.”

Nico frowned and looked at the shop assistant walking away from the department and chuckling. He sighed to himself with a bit of confusion and turned around pensively. Why boys his age had to be _that_ stupid? When he raised his gaze from the floor, he noticed a pair of green eyes looking at him from a couple of metres of distance. Percy had been listening to the little bickering with the shop assistant. _Shit_.

Nico widened his mouth and smiled immediately as if nothing had just happened. “Perce! Here you are. Why don't we-”

“I picked a coconut bubble bath for you. Is it all right?”

Nico frowned. Was Percy mad? “Yes... thanks.”

Percy limited himself to nod with a straight face and turned around with his shopping cart. The boy stared at him with confusion for a while, and then followed him to the cash registers. Yes, Percy was mad. He knew him pretty well by now.

** **

After going back home from the supermarket, Percy didn't talk to Nico for the whole day. He had cooked for him, washed the dishes with him and the boy even helped him with the groceries. Percy didn't say _a_ _word_. When he announced that he was going to correct some essays, Nico knew it wasn't just a case. It took Percy a shit ton of time to correct school stuff. So, yes. The man was openly avoiding him, not even pretending to hide it.

When the evening arrived Nico was sorely depressed. It was a Friday night and Percy had never mentioned to go out or simply order a pizza or do something fun in general. He still was in his studio, correcting damn essays. Nico sighed and turned the TV off. He was drowning in a sea of insanity. He couldn't stand not to talk for more than two hours. Plus, there was no evident reason for Percy to avoid him like that. It wasn't his fault if a stupid shop assistant had been rude about Nico's engagement. _Damn_. It was not like he had cheated on him! The situation made no sense at all.

Nico snorted even louder and got up from the couch, directing himself upstairs to Percy's studio. The door was closed, obviously. He was ready to knock when he noticed that his boyfriend was talking to himself. No, wait. Not to himself. To _someone_. Percy was on the phone. The boy bit his lower lip with guilt. He didn't want to eavesdrop Percy's private conversations, but maybe it could have helped him.

With great shame, Nico laid his ear on the door surface. Percy was talking a bit low. The boy had to struggle to understand everything. He was holding his breath from time to time, since the sound of his breathing was giving him troubles to hear.

“I know... Of _course_ ,” Percy was saying. He sounded a bit pissed. “But you- _Pipes_ , I'm not stupid. But try to put yourself in my shoes. Maybe one day he's gonna wake up and understand that he has wasted his whole life with a man a lot older than him.”

Nico gasped in silence. He was talking about _him_. Percy's tone of voice was so worried that he actually imagined for one second to grab the damn door handle and slam the door open to shout at him that, damn, _he loved him_! What was he talking about?!

His ravings were interrupted by Percy, who suddenly began talking again. And Nico's heart literally ached. His boyfriend was sniffing loudly. He was not pissed, he was _crying_.

“I know that he said _yes_ and that we're gonna marry this summer... but what if he doesn't want to tell me that he changed his mind?! Piper, I don't want him to- yes, I know... you're right, but he's so young... maybe it was too early!”

Nico began shaking his head in denial. Percy was _not_ thinking that. He was _not_.

Percy sniffed again and began openly crying, trying to keep his voice low. Nico felt actual pain in his chest. “Yes... okay. Oh my _God_. I love him so much that I can't imagine staying without him. You see, when- _no_. He didn't say a thing about that boy. But that's not the point, I don't care about that guy. Nico is too clever to like someone as stupid as that idiot... Yeah I _know_ that saying 'stupid' and 'idiot' is a repetition, thank you. I'm a teacher,” Nico, despite everything, chuckled a bit, “but- oh _shit_ , Piper! Forget that I told you!”

The boy laid closer. Percy was muttering and he couldn't hear a thing.

“Yes, I'll stop crying! All right. There's no reason to be _this_ mean to me... what?! I'm not _stubborn_!” Nico chuckled again. Was he supposed to chuckle in such a situation? He didn't think so. “I know I have to talk to him... Piper _stop_ calling me a crybaby. I'm gonna slap you. Thank you so much. I'm calling you tomorrow... You're the worst friend I've ever- okay. Sleep tight. Bye...,” Percy let himself go to a brief laugh, “I hate you.”

The room went suddenly silent. When Nico heard a noise of quick steps reaching for the door, he gasped in terror and stood up from the floor – yes, he had decided to lean on the floor eventually – to throw himself down the stairs. Too bad that said stairs were at the beginning of the corridor, away from the studio. When Percy opened the door, he immediately saw him. The man frowned in confusion.

“Nico?”

Nico winced in actual pain, but managed to turn around to look at him anyway. “Perce.”

The man bent his head to a side, raising an eyebrow. “What are you doing?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Nico smiled forcedly and put a hand on his hip. “Why?”

Percy didn't answer, but limited himself to stare at him from feet to head for a couple of times. His eyes were a bit red a swollen and they were studying Nico's posture with great attention. The man cleared his throat teasingly. “Nico,” and the boy smiled at that, “were you eavesdropping?”

Nico widened his eyes over-dramatically, putting a hand on his chest. “Me? No.” He knew, he _knew_ that Italians were the worst at lying. It didn't come natural to them. Well, the fact that they were the worst at it didn't mean that they didn't do it all the time.

Percy raised an eyebrow sceptically, but for the love of his boyfriend's dignity dropped the subject. “Just wondering. I ordered a pizza. Take the money from my wallet when the pizza deliverer arrives.” The man was about to turn around again to lock himself in his damn studio, but Nico was faster. He grabbed his wrist.

“Percy.” Nico's eyes were so filled with worry that Percy didn't feel like denying him to talk. “I love you. A lot.”

The teacher couldn't hide a bit of surprise. In fact his eyes widened, but just a little. “Mh... okay. Why this urge to tell me?”

The boy frowned in confusion. “Aren't you gonna tell me that you love me back?”

Percy kindly freed his wrist from Nico's grip. “You perfectly know that I love you back. So. Why this urge to tell me _now_?”

Nico bit his lower lip. “Because... I want you to know that-”

“Nico. If you go any further with this conversation, it'll be obvious that you eavesdropped while I was talking to Piper on the phone. At least don't make a fool of yourself. I tried my best to give you a safe exit.”

The boy frowned. Percy's eyes were shining with a bit of amusement, so maybe his declaration seconds earlier had been worth something. He wanted to make his man secure about his feelings. Nico wasn't mad at him because he had felt lost or scared for a while. Percy had a tendency to worry about everything; he had a tendency to feel inadequate in certain situations. Love had been difficult for him in the past - Nico perfectly knew it – and instead of getting mad at who hurt him, he got angry at himself. One could say that Percy had self-confidence issues. If he needed reassurances about their relationship, it was Nico's duty to give them to him. Who could have done it, if not him?

Nico smiled fondly. “You're right. Just remember that I love you, then.”

Percy looked at his boyfriend disappearing downstairs and sighed thoroughly. He was feeling stupid to have doubts about the love of a boy who had been with him for almost six years now. But he couldn't help it. Percy was afraid of rejection, of abandon. Even if there were no evident reasons to do it, his mind always used to wander in a sea of paralysing terror and fears. The shop assistant at the supermarket that morning had worked for him as an alarm bell in his mind. What if Nico was going to regret not to have lived his adolescence at its fullest, trapping himself into a relationship with a thirty year old man so soon? What if Nico was going to hate his appearance in the next years? Nico was going to be always younger and more beautiful than him in the future, obviously, no matter how many times the boy had told him that he was so good looking, so clever and fascinating. Percy's self esteem had been broken irredeemably. And even if something that is broken can be repaired, the cracks will always be there permanently.

With a resigned expression, Percy went back to his studio to try and fix in his head that _yes,_ _Nico loved him_. He loved him so much.

** **

Nico looked at Percy's pizza on the coffee table with intense desire. It seemed to be so delicious. He was regretting having ordered a simple Margherita. Then he remembered that _Percy_ had ordered their pizzas. It wasn't his fault. When he cleared his throat over-dramatically to catch his boyfriend's attention, the man sarcastically raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes?,” he asked to the boy, who didn't look like he actually wanted to talk.

Nico scratched his head. “Can I... I mean, do you mind if I steal a slice of your pizza?”

The man smirked lightly and handed the box to the boy, who clapped his hands with joy and basically took half the pizza for himself. “Thanks! The Quattro Stagioni is, like, so fucking good.”

“The last time we went to the pizzeria you complained about it.”

Nico shrugged. “We'll never go to that pizzeria again. They absolutely can't handle doing pizza.”

Percy laughed. It always happened that Nico complained about Italian things made by non-Italians. The boy was a tiny, annoying and spoiled child when it came to food. “As you want, my prince.”

Nico raised his head from the pizza and stuck out his tongue at him. They kept eating in silence for a while. Percy didn't say a thing when Nico stole slices of his pizza again. He wanted to talk about that shop assistant from the supermarket, but he didn't want to fight on a Friday night. Percy was half insecure, half jealous. It wasn't a mystery that boys _liked_ Nico. They liked him _a lot_. And sincerely, that wasn't a surprise either. Nico was extremely beautiful, shamelessly hot and sexy, pleasantly funny and enjoyable to listen to when he talked. Percy could have listened to Nico talking for the whole damn day without getting tired. But a part of his mind kept repeating to him that Nico surely wasn't a mind reader or a fortune teller; if Percy wanted him to know what was going on through his mind, he had to _speak_.

He took a deep breath and glanced at the boy sticking a bunch of french fries in his mouth in one move. Percy couldn't help but chuckling. Nico had ketchup everywhere on his hands and his mouth. He was _adorable_. “Babe?”

The boy moved his gaze from the ketchup bottle to Percy's eyes. “ _'hat_?” At his boyfriend's confused expression, Nico wiped his mouth with a napkin and swallowed. “Sorry. What?”

Percy chuckled briefly and went serious again seconds later. “I'd like to ask you something... Did you-I mean... yes. Did you like that boy at the supermarket this morning?”

Nico raised an eyebrow at him sarcastically. “It took you a _whole_ day to finally ask me.”

The man rolled his eyes. “Yes. I know. Could you answer?”

“Are you aware of the fact that if you had asked me immediately, you would have spared you a real shit ton of paranoias?”

Percy sighed. “That's what Piper said.”

Nico bent his head to a side and nodded knowingly. “You should listen to her.”

“You didn't say the same thing when she made me drink off my ass at that New Year's Eve party last year. I vomited for five hours straight.”

The boy's smile faded a bit. “Ah. Well. You should be able to understand when she's being reasonable and when she's not. Anyway,” Percy chuckled, “yes. I liked that shop assistant. Aesthetically. He was nice. But then... he began talking.” The man nodded, biting his lower lip. When he was ready to ask him something else, Nico interrupted him. “But Percy. I'll always find cute boys in my life. You'll find them too. Why did you freak out like that? You didn't talk to me for the whole day.”

Percy scratched his forehead tiredly. “It was not for that guy. I was panicking about our wedding.”

Nico nodded. “Okay. Why?”

“Because,” Percy scratched his forehead again with exasperation, “because, _damn_ , you're gonna marry me in three months and I'm scared as fuck you're gonna regret it or change your mind or-”

The boy frowned and widened his arms in confusion. “Percy! You could change your mind too! This is life! You can't get scared at things that you _don't know_ if are going to happen or not. Do you get it? It's unhealthy. It will drive you crazy. I find myself thinking about it, too. When I feel that I'm going to panic, I talk to _you_. What do you think?! That I'm sure and secure about everything all the time?”

Percy frowned in embarrassment. How was that boy wiser than him? He was thirteen years younger, for fuck's sake! “Well...”

“Don't say _yes_ or I'm gonna find a knife and stab you.”

Percy chuckled. His cheeks were a bit red. “Of course not. Maybe I over-reacted.” Nico raised an eyebrow at him sceptically. “... Okay. I surely over-reacted.”

The boy smiled fondly. “And what are you gonna do the next time such a thing happens?”

“I'm gonna talk to you, Mr. di Angelo.” Percy winked at him. “I got the _lesson_.”

Nico chuckled again and bit his lower lip. “Great. Now... since I've eaten a shit ton of pizza and I need to burn these calories or I won't be thin enough to look like I'm ill, would you join me into some wild sexual activity?”

Percy laughed loudly and grabbed Nico's wrist over the coffee table. The boy smirked mischievously and let him drag him on the couch. He sat on Percy's thighs and wrapped his arms around his neck. The man softly kissed his lips and Nico smiled.

“You're the sweetest dumbass ever,” he whispered into the teacher's ear.

“You'd like this dumbass to make love to you on this couch?”

Nico teasingly bit Percy's lip. “It'd be an honour.”

Percy chuckled and kissed his boyfriend deeply, pushing him kindly on the couch and climbing over his body. Nico sneaked his hands under the man's shirt, leaving the love of his life in command.

** SUMMER, THREE MONTHS LATER **

“ _No_. Oh my God. The tablecloths weren't supposed to be this colour... This is a nightmare.”

A short man was holding a box full of dark coral red tablecloths in his hands, looking at Percy with a weird expression. “Sir. The colour code was 8112. You ordered 8112. On my orders list I have 8112. I picked 8112 from the store.”

Percy stopped scratching his forehead and raised his killer gaze at the man who apparently was trying to be clever. The short man's smile faded immediately. “If I were you, I wouldn't be so happy. Wait until Nico, my fiancé, finds out. He's in charge on this stuff, not me. But I know for sure that this isn't the right colour.” Percy approached the man slowly, with an intimidating straight face. The man tried to retreat, but he bumped against a chair. “Now. We can both make a choice. _I_ can call Nico, tell him that someone messed with our tablecloths,” the short man swallowed hard. He didn't know why, but that didn't sound like a great option, “or _you_ can bring these tablecloths back to the store, pick the right colour, and not make me pay for them. And Nico will never know.”

The short man stared at Percy for a few seconds with terror in his eyes. “S-sir... I can't replace the tablecloths without making you pay for the extras. These are made to order. It's a lot of money.”

Percy reduced his eyes to a thin line and nodded slowly, leaning closer to the man and almost making their noses touch. “Do you understand that if I call Nico, you're gonna replace the tablecloths for free anyway but you'd regret not having done it before?”

“Sir,” the man straightened his back to pretend he wasn't scared – because _he was_ -, “This is not going to happen.”

“Please. I beg you. _Please_. If something else goes wrong with this wedding, and if Hades di Angelo notices that he's paying twice the price for the tablecloths – and don't make a fool of yourself believing that he won't find out -, our heads will be hung on that door over there.” Percy pointed at the entrance doors of the great hall. “Both our heads.”

The short man stared at Percy, who never moved his gaze from his eyes. Not even for a second. Eventually, he gave up first. “... All right. I'm sure we can turn a blind eye. What-what is the right colour, then?”

Percy closed his eyes and smiled with satisfaction. When he opened them again, the man was forcedly smiling back. “ _Light_ coral red. The same as the tulle for the decorations.”

The man looked around the room and picked his colour tables from his pocket. When he got to the coral reds page, he paled. “Ehm... it looks like a... well, it looks like a 8111.”

“You don't say?”

The short man chuckled – obviously not amused – and put the box on a table to change the order on his orders list. After that, the two shook their hands and both promised not to talk about that story ever again. Percy stared at the man disappearing from the room and sighed thoroughly. Another disaster avoided.

When he heard Nico's laugh from the distance, followed by his mother's laugh as well, he sighed even deeper with relief. Just some minutes earlier and that short man could have been dead by now. Nico approached him and Sally kept chuckling for the God knew what Nico had just said. Percy planted a sweet kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

“So,” Nico began, gazing around the room with confusion. “Where are the tablecloths? They should have arrived this morning.”

Percy felt actual pain in his chest. How the hell did he remembered those things?! “Well... for an unfortunate circumstance, they'll arrive next week.”

Nico quickly turned around and his eyes darkened. “Next _week_? We will marry next week.”

Sally chuckled, apparently amused by the situation, and stole a sugared almond from a table. “Oh dear.”

“Nico... maybe they'll arrive earlier. The store has my number. Don't freak out,” Percy said, trying to calm Nico down before World War III could have started. Lately the boy had been _slightly_ stressed out and alarmingly irritable.

The boy nodded in confusion, but studied Percy's facial expression like he wasn't sure if he was telling him the whole truth or not. In the end, he dropped the subject. “All right. If you say so.”

Percy smiled reassuringly and hugged him. Nico wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's neck and smiled back, feeling relaxed now. “God, Perce... I'm both excited and about to pass out. I don't know how to handle all this. I can't wait.”

The man kissed him sweetly and tried to ignore his mother's giggling. “I can't wait, too. Are you still sure you want to marry me?”

Nico raised an eyebrow knowingly. “ _Meh_. I don't know. The barman from the open bar is quite good looking. Maybe he's single.”

Percy nodded pensively. “I noticed that, too. Have you seen his chest? Hell yes.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I have. You know that I have a thing for men in white shirts.” The boy winked mockingly after those words.

“Kind of...”

Nico chuckled lowly before Percy attached their lips together again and ceremoniously kissed him like they were alone in that room. Sally politely pretended not to see them and kept emptying the trays on the tables, hiding candies and other sweets in her purse. When the two separated, Percy smiled at Nico again and then turned around to look at his mum – always hugging Nico in the meanwhile, who was giggling uncontrollably.

“Mum,” the woman casually turned to look at her son with a wide friendly smile, “those are the tables for our wedding reception. This means that we paid for the candies you're stealing.”

Sally widened her eyes and gasped silently. “Oh.” She began pouring the candies on a table and replacing them again in the trays.

Nico laughed openly and let Percy kiss him again. “I love you so much.”

Percy stroked his cheek fondly with a hand. “I love you too.”

They kept kissing passionately and sweetly, while Sally Jackson pretended not to be a criminal.

FINE

**Author's Note:**

> Do you remember Alice singing "I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it"? Well. This is me writing Nico in this story. He's so wise, so clever. You'd think that I am, too. I AM NOT. My relationship with anxiety is not healthy.
> 
> I'll let you go eheh.  
> [tumblrlrlr](http://fedegreen-author.tumblr.com/)


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